Rohit Sharma broke the record for the most sixes hit in men’s one-day internationals as India edged South Africa by 17 runs in the opening game of their series in Ranchi.

After being asked to bat, India posted 349-8 with Virat Kohli hitting a record-extending 52nd ODI century with a brilliantly paced 135 off 120 balls.

He shared 136 with Rohit, who made 57 off 51 balls, for the second wicket.

Rohit, who already held the record for the most sixes across formats in international cricket (now 642), hit three sixes to overtake Shahid Afridi’s 15-year record of 351 ODI maximums.

India were 161-2 in the 22nd over when the former captain was dismissed and run-scoring became more difficult in the middle overs but the hosts were superbly marshalled by Kohli.

He also shared 76 with stand-in captain KL Rahul, who then took over when Kohli was dismissed, to hit 60 off 56 balls.

South Africa slipped to 11-3 in reply and 130-5 but Matthew Breetzke (72 off 80) and Marco Jansen (70 off 39) gave them hope with a 97-run stand.

Both were dismissed in the 34th over by Kuldeep Yadav and South Africa’s hopes seemed over at 228-7.

However, Corbin Bosch (67 off 51) put on partnerships with Prenelan Subrayen and Nandre Burger, who both made 17, to leave the Proteas needing 37 from 18 balls.

Bosch was farming the strike and turning down singles and left 18 from the final over, but he skied the second ball from Prasidh Krishna to cover.

The second game in the three-match series takes place on Wednesday (08:00 GMT).